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Thank you for joining us this week for the Windows Server Summit! Q&A is now closed, but all sessions are available on demand so you can watch and learn when it is convenient for you. We hope you enjoyed the event.
- Where can we get more information for the On-Prem (Non-Azure) clients. How is MECM made aware of the new patches. When will pricing information be available for Non-Azure servers. What OS's will be supported? We saw Ignite sessions where they were patching Windows 2019.
- VishalBajaj
Microsoft
For MECM and all security software products, we are working on plans to ensure they are aware of detecting baseline and hotpatches. Pricing information for ARC connected Servers will be available close to GA or at GA. For on-prem the current plan is to support WS 2025 Standard and Datacenter that are ARC connected for a small monthly fee. The ignite demo was meant to just show the working of Hotpatching, but Server 2019 is not in scope or on the roadmap.- Thank you
- Will hotpatching work if there is a .NET Framework update in the queue as well. i.e. hotpatch the OS and leave the .NET Framework update to the handling of the administrator?
tidreyYes, the hotpatch will be applied. Any other updates will remain in the queue.
- Can the feature be evaluated with insider builds without an ARC subscription?
- NedPyleWe will have a preview of this feature for Windows Server 2025 with Arc, there will be no cost in the preview. But it will still require Arc as that's something we need to be tested as part of the preview.
- Jeff_Woolsey_MSFTNot yet, soon. When it's available in the Windows Server Insider Builds, you will see it in the Release Notes.
What versions of Server (25, 22, 19, 16?) will be supported with hotpatching?
Edit: on-prem? WSUS?
- VishalBajajCurrently we support WS 2022 Azure Edition. Plan to expand to WS 2025 Azure Edition and on-prem WS 2025 Datacenter and Standard that are ARC connected.
- NedPyleWindows Server 2025. Windows Server 2022 Azure Edition already supports hotpatch and has for a few years.
- Jeff_Woolsey_MSFTHotpatching is available today if you're using Windows Server 2022 Azure Edition in Azure or on-premises with Azure Stack HCI. Starting with Windows Server 2025, we are introducing Arc-enabled hotpatching, so you have the option to enable hotpatching on Windows Server 2025 Standard/Datacenter edition for a monthly subscription running anywhere such as physical, virtual, or other clouds. Hotpatching will continue to be included at no additional charge if you use Windows Server 2025 Azure Edition in Azure or on-premises with Azure Stack HCI.
- I'm really not thrilled with the idea of yet another subscription to fix something that apparently has been working internal to MS for years. This constant push to hang organizations upside down and shake the change out of their pockets really needs to stop.
- Is hotpatching still Azure or Azure Stack only?
- VishalBajajFor now yes, but plan in place to take it to on-prem for Azure Arc connected devices.
- Jeff_Woolsey_MSFTHotpatching is available today if you're using Windows Server 2022 Azure Edition in Azure or on-premises with Azure Stack HCI. Starting with Windows Server 2025, we are introducing Arc-enabled hotpatching, so you have the option to enable hotpatching on Windows Server 2025 Standard/Datacenter edition for a monthly subscription running anywhere such as physical, virtual, or other clouds. Hotpatching will continue to be included at no additional charge if you use Windows Server 2025 Azure Edition in Azure or on-premises with Azure Stack HCI.
- NedPyleNo it will be available in WS2025 with Arc. Keep watching the presentation, you are getting ahead. 🙂
- What about if the box gets rebooted after the hot patch is applied? Would it need to be applied again? and would this 'break' the chain and would have to wait until the next baseline to start hot patching again?
- tidrey
No, the behavior is the same as any other Windows patch: once it's applied it's applied. Reboots have no affect on the installation status.
- VishalBajajIf you reboot the machine for any reason after installing a Hotpatch, the Hotpatches do not get uninstalled. They remain effective even after the reboot.
- Excited to see this for on-premises environments. All of the feedback you showed strongly resonates with my local environment and experience. Hoping to see it available for non-Azure Arc requirements. Is that on the roadmap?
- NedPyle
Nothing is off the table. Hotpatch was once an Azure Edition-only feature. Now it's an on-prem WS2025 feature with Arc. We will constantly be evaluating customer needs for this feature as we go forward.
- Thanks Ned for responding. Unfortunately, off-prem related services/costs for the environments I'm steward of are denied due to managerial directive to keep all things on-prem concerning our systems/infrastructure. Just one of those things that I just have to accept... but do make it a constant reminder when opportunities arise. Still - will definitely be looking forward to playing with this in my homelab and making it a highlight of "see all this good we could be doing for ourselves?" in future talks with folks at work. Please say hi to and pet your dogs for me today. 😊
- Jeff_Woolsey_MSFTHotpatching is available today if you're using Windows Server 2022 Azure Edition in Azure or on-premises with Azure Stack HCI. Starting with Windows Server 2025, we are introducing Arc-enabled hotpatching, so you have the option to enable hotpatching on Windows Server 2025 Standard/Datacenter edition for a monthly subscription running anywhere such as physical, virtual, or other clouds. Hotpatching will continue to be included at no additional charge if you use Windows Server 2025 Azure Edition in Azure or on-premises with Azure Stack HCI.
- Thanks Jeff. Excited to see how this will help all systems admins. 😊 (and I'll just keep asking at work for access/funding to be able to improve things for my employer otherwise)
- VishalBajajCan you help us understand this better. What challenges you see if this is limited to Arc connected servers only ?
- Vishal - I wish I understood this better for myself. Unfortunately, I do not have current (and doubt future) managerial support or funding to connect on-premises systems under my care to a cloud service. I will definitely be making more requests and future cases for Azure Arc -- but I expect to be denied as I have in years past. Otherwise, I don't believe I would have any technical challenges here. Thanks to PowerShell, WAC, WSUS, GPOs, and other tooling I do my best in the meantime. Unfortunately there's no Get-Manager $Person | Set-Manager -ApproveCloudyThings:$true as of yet!
- What happens if hotpatching introduces a bug (like the current LSASS issue from March updates) or even a BSOD scenario? Which kind of rollback mechanics will be in place?
- VishalBajajHotpatch packages are very small in size as it contains only delta security fixes from the last baseline month. This reduces the probability of running into compat issues. Also, they undergo same rigor in terms of validation as regular LCU before release. Having said that, if you do run into issue post install of Hotpatch package, you can roll back the update the same way you do a regular LCU today. The rollback of Hotpatch will need a reboot.
- Jeff_Woolsey_MSFTYou can rollback a hotpatch just like any other hotpatch. If a rollback is necessary, a reboot would be required.
- HotPatching is already implemented into the Microsoft server for on-premises environment?
- Jeff_Woolsey_MSFTHotpatching is available today if you're using Windows Server 2022 Azure Edition in Azure or on-premises with Azure Stack HCI. Starting with Windows Server 2025, we are introducing Arc-enabled hotpatching, so you have the option to enable hotpatching on Windows Server 2025 Standard/Datacenter edition for a monthly subscription running anywhere such as physical, virtual, or other clouds. Hotpatching will continue to be included at no additional charge if you use Windows Server 2025 Azure Edition in Azure or on-premises with Azure Stack HCI.
- VishalBajajHotpatching is currently only available on Windows Server 2022 Datacenter Azure Edition VMs available on Azure cloud and guest VMs on Azure Stack HCI. Plan in place to bring it to Azure Arc connected Windows Server 2025 on-prem and other clouds.
Vishal, Thank you for your reply, so if we deploy Azure Arc into a Windows server 2025 we will be able to have Hotpatching into our on-premises environment?
Or I still need to move my on-premises environment to Azure Cloud?
